GRACE CHAFFEE '18 Recruiting Profile

Being a good teammate is the most valuable thing I can do for my teams. I work hard not just on my physical skills, but I also work hard to be a good teammate. I believe that as a teammate I also have the responsibility of picking up my teammates, cheering them on, and getting them fired up. For two years in a row my Club SyrV teammates have voted me captain and MVP, and for two years in a row my school coach has chosen me as MVP also and captain this year. I’ve been playing with my beach volleyball partner for only a little over a year, but together we have become a force and become the closest friends. The Club SyrV Sand coach told me that the reason my beach partner, Lexi Hamilton, and I do so well is because we respect and trust each other so much. She says other teams tense up and get frustrated during games, but we work together, stay collected, and push through; not giving up which is what has made us the number one team in central New York. I believe being a good teammate is what makes teams so successful.

I started volleyball by managing the varsity team from fourth grade to sixth. Then in seventh grade I moved up to the junior varsity team and at the end of eighth grade I was asked to move up for sectionals. From ninth grade on I’ve been the starting setter for my school’s varsity team over a junior returning setter. In my sophomore and junior year my school team won sectionals which for us is the farthest victory we can go because my school, Tully, still plays volleyball in the winter, which is very rare. Last year and this year I received League Player of the Year and All CNY Player. This year I broke school records for most assists in a match with 49 assists and most assists in a season at 539. I hope to accomplish those awards and set more records during my senior year as well. The last two years my club team has gone to Nationals in New Orleans and Indianapolis. Last year my beach partner and I won many tournaments, our biggest tournament would be at Nationals at Point Pleasant Beach, NJ; there we won the silver bracket. This summer we were invited to the NYC Hudson River AVP First Tournament where we came in third place. Then in Nationals again in NJ we came in first in the silver bracket again which is fifth in the tournament.